Musky

I've never heard of the place either. The thing to bear in mind about gigs in London is that it's not so much the venue that you have to watch for, but the promoter. Very few venues do in house promotion and even those that do usually have outside promoters on certain nights. It's also worth remembering that few places have a walk up audience - those that do tend to be club nights that have a bit of a buzz to them. Given the review above and the fact that no one seems to have heard of the place it might seem that the only people you'll be playing to are the people the bands bring along themselves. But who knows - maybe the promoter has been busy cultivating a thriving little scene.

Cheers Alex. I bet Soloshchenko wishes I'd just said 'run two cabs' now!

It's the power of a mystery Ed, an enigma within an enigma. We just can't resist.

Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams. Only because they just played a clip on TV and there was some nice Entwistle-esque bassing going on in there. Or just go full fat and play the genuine article - The Real Me.

147 pedals! You can read more about it at [url="http://tonefreq.blogspot.com/2009/08/worlds-largest-pedalboard-party-20-post.html"]http://tonefreq.blogspot.com/2009/08/world...ty-20-post.html[/url] Anyone here got a bigger one?

Oh well. I'm getting there - slowly. Alex, does that mean that if you had say a 2x10 and a 4x10 loaded with the same drivers and similar cab designs the 4x10 wouldn't be louder for a given wattage? Obviously the 4x10 would have a higher max SPL, but I thought it would be louder at any given power level. I'm getting confused now!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='583712' date='Aug 28 2009, 04:22 PM']Adding a second matching cab will give you more like a 6dB increase in SPL, which will perceived as even more due to the way our ears work. It's a big difference![/quote] Hah, I knew I ought to be leaving this to the experts! [quote]If you replace your 1x15" with an equal sensitivity 4x10" then you'll get no increase in SPL unless the 1x15" is incapable of handling all the power of your amp (which with so little power is unlikely to be much of a problem).[/quote] If cab sensitivity was the same yes, but if [i]driver[/i] sensitivity was the same wouldn't you get more volume from the greater overall displacement capability? Please tell me I've at least got that bit right. Edit: Aha! I knew I'd got that 3db figure from somewhere on here! Or am I just being thick again? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=10740&view=findpost&p=113399"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=113399[/url]

[quote name='Soloshchenko' post='583611' date='Aug 28 2009, 02:59 PM']Cheers, that is a really big help. Yes, it is increased volume I am looking for but also I found the actual sound was significantly improved. The warwick was over the other side of the room so naturally I just got a fuller, more detailed kind of sound. That's what I'm looking for. So really what you are saying is as long as head and original cab (1x15) are running at 8ohms, a big 400 watt cab (this Warwick is currently borrowed) is kind of pointless isn't it? Ie. I could be getting anything above 130 watts (say another 200 watt cab) and I'm sorted in what I'm trying to achieve?[/quote] If you got another matching 1x15 8 ohm cab you'd get a small but noticeable increase in volume. Doubling the number of woofers will give you a 3db increase in volume (assuming the cabs have the same sensitivity) - that's the same increase you'd get by doubling the power of your amp. Add to that you'd be upping your available power by roughly 50% (going from 130W into 8 ohm to 200W into 4 ohms). That will also give you a small - though barely noticeable - increase in volume. If you are looking at replacing your 8 ohm 1x15 with an 8 ohm 4x10 with similar sensitivity drivers you would get more volume, simply because the 4x10 is capable of physically moving more air (think about the surface area of the speakers to start with). The wattage of the cab doesn't actually come into the equation - that just tells you the thermal power handling of the cab before you can expect the voice coils to melt. Wattage is a pretty poor way of trying to work out the volume. The efficiency of the cab is far more important - a cab with a sensitivity of 99db driven by 200W will sound as loud as a cab with only 96bd driven by 400w.

Was the tone you found awesome or the volume? If it's volume you're looking for there's a number of reasons the Warwick would have been louder beyond just the rated wattage. For a start the Warwick was running into two cabs, and the 4x10 alone will shift more air than your 1x15 even before you take the second cab into account. The two cabs will probably be running at 4 ohms which will get the full rated power out of the amp - at 8 ohms it will only produce about two thirds of the rated power. Assuming your Trace is running into an 8 ohm cab you'll be getting about 130W out of it. Unfortunately plugging your Trace into a cab rated at 400W, or even 4000W, won't necessarily make it any louder - it'll still knock out about 130W into 8 ohm load. There's more to volume than wattage, but your best bet to get an increase in volume is to add an additional cab to your rig The wiki might be of some use (though it could probably do with some updating) [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:amps:impedance_and_wattage"]http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:amps:impedance_and_wattage[/url]

I used to have one of those in shell pink as it goes - very nice basses. I'd be tempted but I'm already having trouble explaining why I [i]need[/i] my others to the gf.

[url="http://reranch.com/101.htm"]Guitar Reranch[/url] has a good tutorial on this. You basically drip paint onto the small holes with a matchstick and cut it back with wet and dry and then T Cut. Can't help with the exact paint though.

For a second I thought that Jamdock was something I've been considering for a while - a footswitch to remotely queue up and activate an MP3 player. I want something small and cheap to use some samples live without going down the whole sampler/midi route, so the footswitch is a must. And I know I'm not alone wanting one, judging by the number of questions I've seen asking about the same thing and bands having to manually turn on and off iPods live. So yeah, one of those.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='581432' date='Aug 26 2009, 02:39 PM']Wasn't it the famously hopeless BL years actually? Alex[/quote] Strange. This thread brought BL to mind even before Bill mentioned automobiles. Yeah, country of manufacture isn't really a guide to reliability.

[quote name='dbsummers' post='423549' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:18 PM']Did not see many comments from "Yanks" so though would post one. I played bass in the late 60's and gave it up when drafted. Played with the Moving Sidewalks and now in my "old" age am getting my bass out of the closed for a little fun. Found out that i have forgoten far more than i ever new but this site is a great resource. Don from Dallas Texas[/quote] Wow. The Moving Sidewalks. What a great band.

[quote name='Beedster' post='580355' date='Aug 25 2009, 03:52 PM']Yes depending to a certain extent on age and natural ability, age because both your ability to learn and to move slow down as you get older, and natural ability because that can define just how much headroom you have to improve (and if you're very good already, there's also not a whole lot of headroom for improvement). Some factors that might need tro be entered into the equation are: Your ability to set realistic performance goals Your willingness to work hard Your willingness to seek tuition and related learning experiences and your ability to respond to these Your willingness to take and to respond to feedback from others Your objectivity as to just how good you are Easy [/quote] Looks like I'm not going to be learning any new tricks then.

Does Charlie Mingus [i]really[/i] belong in a list of cool names?

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='578761' date='Aug 24 2009, 08:25 AM']Didn't it feel like you were taking a bit of a leap of faith ordering from such an crappy-looking site with seemingly no track record?[/quote] +1 Despite the sites claims to be fully compliant with distance selling regulations there's no contact address or company name given (trading names don't count). With respect to Jchel, your post does appear at first glance to be someone associated with the site posing as a satisfied customer. Apologies if that's not the case, but it hardly inspires confidence and I think I might be forgiven for viewing post like these with suspicion.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='578028' date='Aug 23 2009, 08:30 AM']Strange.. not my experience at all! The thing is, if it's a solid maple neck you need a skunk stripe. If it's rosewood, you don't...[/quote] Yeah. I've just had a quick look at some of the pictures I've got saved of 70's Fenders, and all the rosewood necked ones showing the headstock or back of the neck have a skunk stripe or walnut plug. Not that that means anything of course, other than maybe I happen to like rosewood necks with a skunk stripe. I've just noticed that Fender had a neck code for both rosewood necks [i]and[/i] rosewood necks with a skunk stripe. Quite why they would have decided to make both sorts is anyone's guess. Maybe there was a market for people that had a particular preference?

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='578026' date='Aug 23 2009, 07:49 AM']The general guideline (but not rule) is: Solid maple = skunk stripe Rosewood or maple cap = no skunk stripe That said, I've seen rosewood necks with skunk stripes. Not many though.. it's more of a Strat / Tele thing.[/quote] Now there's a weird thing - that's the opposite of what I've noticed. I seem to see far more rosewood necks with a skunk stripe on 70's Fenders than without, so much much so that I thought this one was odd. Good to know that there are genuine ones out there without the skunk stripes though.

I wouldn't recommend anything other than a correctly sized allen key. I think you're going to have to bit the bullet and shell out for one that fits properly.

Thinking about it, I'm sure I've seen the other odd 70's Fenders with no skunk stripe. Whether that meant the lack of a skunk stripe was just the kind of weird discrepancy that Fender knock out from time to time, or whether it had a replacement neck I have no idea. Looking at the decal it looks like part of the last 'S' is missing, which is strange as well. Maybe it's just obscured slightly by grime. And the wear looks a little odd too. Maybe I'm just getting a bit too cynical in my old age.

Strange. There's no skunk stripe.

Just a thought, but I'm not really sure that 500W into a 2x10 is any louder than 330W (or thereabouts) into a 4x10. If you half the wattage you'll get a 3db drop in volume, but if you double the number of woofers you'll get a 3db increase in volume. So overall volume should be about the same with that set up (assuming the markbass cabs have the same efficiency). I'd wait to see if you struggle with the volume using the 4x10 before worrying too much.

The Roland Cube, Ashdown Perfect 10, Line6 studio 110 or plenty of Peavey models all sell secondhand within your budget. They're all regularly recommended as practice amps, and something like a Peavey TKO would probably fine for a small gig.

I always liked the look of these, ever since I first saw ads for them in the early eighties. Algis Kizys from Swans used to use one - bone crunchingly awesome sound.